Method of making plate or sheet glass.



WITNESSES T. SPILLA NE. METHOD OF MAKING PLATE 0R SHEET GLASS.

APPLIUATION FILED 31124, 1903.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

INVENTOR rm! mums FI'I'IIS 00-, IIISIHNBTGN. n. c,

THOMAS SPILLANE, OF KANE, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF MAKING PLATE OR SHEET GLASS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

Application filed February 24, 1903. Serial No. 144,631.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Tnorms SPILLANn, of Kane, McKcan county, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Method of Making Sheet or Plate Glass, of which the fol lowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference bcing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which the figure is a diagrammatic perspective view showing apparatus for carrying out my invention.

My invention relates to the manufacture of sheet or plate glass and is designed to do away with the grinding, smoothing and polishing operations which have heretofore been necessary where glass is rolled into sheet form.

The rocess consists in rolling a plate or sheet 0 glass, then removing the sheet from the table and fire polishing one or both sides of the sheet or plate within a suitable fire chamber, and then flattening and annealing the sheet.

In carrying out my method I pour the glass upon a table of ordinary form shown at 2 and roll the glass on this table into a sheet or plate in the ordinary manner. The rolled plate is then shoved endwise upon a table or support 3 which perfectly constitotes an extension of the rollin table and from which the glass is removed y a fork i.

I have shown the table 3 as having transverse grooves arranged to receive the lower tines of the gripping fork so that the plate is shoved over these lower tines or grip ing portions. The plate is then grippecf by means of the upper tines 5 which are epressed by the operator through the lever handle 6 to the grlpped plate. The tines are preferably covered with asbestos throughout those portions which are introduced into the fire-polishing chamber while inserting the glass plate. I thus prevent the tines or fork rom warping. The fork is suspended by a swivel connection 7 from an overhead trolley traveling upon a track which extends from the position Where the sheet is gri ped to a point in front of the fireolishing cl famber 8. The fork is turned l the operator so as to bring the sheet or plate of glass into an approximately vertical position and the plate is then shoved through the vertical slot 9 into the fire-chamber. This chamber is preferably heated in the same manner as a glory-hole furnace, the heat in this chamber being sufficient to impart a fire polish to the faces of the sheet; the sheet is preferably turned and manipulated by the operator, while in the fire-chamber so as to subject all parts of the sheet to a substantially even heat and fire-polish its different parts;

Vi hen the sheet has thus been kept in the fire-chamber a suflicient length of time to impart a fire-polish it is withdrawn through the vertical slot and the trolley is moved along the track to bring the fire polished plate in front of the opening of a flattening oven 10. The operator lays the sheet or plate upon one of the flattening stones with the rough or table side upward, and the op eration of flattening is carried out in the same manner as in window except that the temperature need not be as high as that necessary in flattening a roller or cylinder. After the operator has flattened the plate by rubbing it with his flattening tool in the usual manner, the plate is taken from the flattening stone and is inserted in the leer 11 which leads from it. The leer may be of the ordinary rod-leer type or any other desirable form.

The advantages of my invention result from doing away with the slow and expensive operations of grinding, smoothing and polishing which are now necessary in the finishing of rolled plate glass. The firepolishing operation removes the chilled skin or surface layer on one or both faces of the rolled plate, while the flattening straightens the sheet or plate and removes irregu arity.

Many changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the apparatus employed in carrying out my method, without departing from my invention.

I claim:

1. The method of making glass plates or sheets, consisting in depositing a mass of glass upon a horizontal table, rolling it into the form of a plain flat sheet or plate thereon, ap lying transverse gripping mechanism to oth sides of the rolled sheet, removing and inserting the sheet in a furnace chamber while so gripped, moving the sheet about in the furnace chamber by means of the ripper device, and fire-polishing it therein; substantially as described.

2. The process for fire-polishing plateglass, consisting in transversely gripping a glass plate in two portions thereof near its ends, inserting it in a vertical position into a heating chamber capable of acconimodatposition into a heating chamber capable of 10 ing the whole plate, and then Withdrawing eecommodatin the whole plate; substanit; substantially as described. tially as descri ed.

3. The method of fire-polishing plate- In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set glass, consisting in rolling the plate on a my hand. table, transversely gripping the plate at 0p- THOMAS SPILLANE. posite sides of the center and along lines Witnesses: lengthwise of the end edges, turning it into E. C. Ammnsmn,

vertical position and inserting it in vertical MARY COSTLEY. 

